variants
or buncombe
as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
a cinematic depiction of the Middle Ages that was derided as pure bunkum by historians
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Recent Examples of bunkum
Putting aside the junk peddling, how much of Madoff’s and Trump’s bunkum do they themselves (for Madoff, did) believe to be true?
—
Richard Behar, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
As generative AI is integrated into common search engines and voters converse with chatbots, people seeking basic information about elections have at times been met with misinformation, pure bunkum, or links to fringe websites.
—Mekela Panditharatne, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024
Nevertheless, anti-vaccine bunkum has clearly metastasized to our furry companions.
—Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 30 Aug. 2023
And in the ultimate exemplification of how an endless stream of content begets pernicious bunkum, John McPhail’s Dear David is arguably the most brainless release of the year.
—Nicholas Bell, SPIN, 5 Dec. 2023
Brightly lit and filled to their Botox gills with aspirational bunkum, the shows require little by way of mental engagement.
—Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 12 July 2023
Behind the image was a fair bit of bunkum.
—James Gleick, The New York Review of Books, 13 Apr. 2021
The Telegraph's article immediately drew sharp responses from other journalists, who dismissed the report as bunkum.
—Smriti Rao, Discover Magazine, 15 Mar. 2010
Unfortunately, but somewhat predictably, the press has fallen for Bukele’s bunkum hook, line, and sinker.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 18 Sep. 2021
Richard Behar, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
As generative AI is integrated into common search engines and voters converse with chatbots, people seeking basic information about elections have at times been met with misinformation, pure bunkum, or links to fringe websites.
—Mekela Panditharatne, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024
Nevertheless, anti-vaccine bunkum has clearly metastasized to our furry companions.
—Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 30 Aug. 2023
And in the ultimate exemplification of how an endless stream of content begets pernicious bunkum, John McPhail’s Dear David is arguably the most brainless release of the year.
—Nicholas Bell, SPIN, 5 Dec. 2023
Brightly lit and filled to their Botox gills with aspirational bunkum, the shows require little by way of mental engagement.
—Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 12 July 2023
Behind the image was a fair bit of bunkum.
—James Gleick, The New York Review of Books, 13 Apr. 2021
The Telegraph's article immediately drew sharp responses from other journalists, who dismissed the report as bunkum.
—Smriti Rao, Discover Magazine, 15 Mar. 2010
Unfortunately, but somewhat predictably, the press has fallen for Bukele’s bunkum hook, line, and sinker.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 18 Sep. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bunkum
Noun
-
This nonsense all tracks back to a May 9 visit Baraka, McIver and other members of Congress made to a New Jersey immigration detention center.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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Stop this nonsense [or] your executives and employees will see the same fate… Make the correct decision and pay the ransom.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
20 May 2025
Noun
-
Allegiance The Resistance, led by General Leia Organa, regroups on the garbage planet Anoat, while Finn and Poe go on a secret mission to retrieve a weapons cache to increase their dwindling arsenal.—
Nick Romano,
EW.com,
25 May 2025
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Duluth, Minnesota, has installed effective and unobtrusive signs at each beach entrance next to a garbage receptacle.—
John Michael Pierobon,
Sun Sentinel,
25 May 2025
Noun
-
Kennedy has elevated threats to the livelihoods of scientists who have resisted his brand of balderdash from the implicit to the explicit.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Nov. 2024
-
While schools do exist in rough tiers of selectivity, size, excellence, prestige and so forth, the idea of precise rankings is balderdash.—
David M. Perry,
CNN,
14 Sep. 2022
Noun
-
This time, the technique is turned upon classic alien invasion movies of the Golden Age with liberal helpings of pure human stupidity as a seemingly peaceful first contact moment goes awry and gets bloody, leading to a solar system-ending flatulent finish.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
17 May 2025
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Tiny terror is unleashed in this mini alien apocalypse as directors Robert Bisi and Andy Lyon pay loving tribute to classic sci-fi stories of alien invasion and human stupidity using tilt-shift techniques that make the end of the world look almost cute.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
24 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
From the foothills of the Berkshires arises a venerable strain of American madness, the poetry of hokum—the old weird America of medicine shows and travelling circuses and carnivals.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
18 Apr. 2025
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Ultimately, what saves the movie is the cast and crew’s expert devotion to its polished, well-meaning hokum.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The other camp says hogwash and would argue that the DDE is sorely lacking, amounts to an oversimplification, and has little to offer.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
26 Feb. 2025
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These are typically hogwash for multiple reasons, not least of which is the combination of ideological bias with the pretense of ideological neutrality.—
Dan McLaughlin,
National Review,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Third, despite Trump’s claptrap, plenty of fresh delta water is being pumped south to fill fire hydrants and the tanks of firefighting aircraft.—
George Skelton,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Jan. 2025
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Many Red Sox fans have had it up to here with that building-for-the-future claptrap, so much so that expectations were scary low coming into the 2024 season.—
Steve Buckley,
The Athletic,
31 July 2024
Noun
-
Buckingham Palace simply couldn’t abide someone in its circle saying poppycock.—
Vulture,
Vulture,
29 Aug. 2023
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This is, as Raymond Reddington might say, utter poppycock.—
Tanya Melendez,
EW.com,
3 Apr. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Bunkum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bunkum. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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